Gloucester County receives 13 bids on demolition work

Gloucester County opened bids from 13 contractors for the demolition work of residences to be obtained through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation grant program.

The bids ranged from a high of $20 per square foot to a low of $1.49 per square foot, according to a county bid tab sheet. The apparent low bidder was East Coast Abatement & Demolition Co. of Moyock, N.C.

The next-lowest bidder was Annex General Contracting, of Suffolk, at $2.75 per square foot.

The county is currently using K.F. Wilson Contractor of Hampton for the work. K.F. Wilson Contractor bid $6.95 per square foot for the demolition work.

Under its current contract, the county doesn't have a rate per square foot for its demolitions, said Purchasing Director Bill Lindsey. The county has previously bid each structure demolition on a case-by-case basis, which is very time-consuming and labor intensive, he said.

"Our objective with this bid is to establish a turn-key price per square foot that can be applied to any structure that may become available for demolition in the future," Lindsey said. "We did it this way because presently I don’t know each and every structure that we may demolish in the future."

County officials are performing their "due diligence" with the low bidders to determine if their prices are responsive to the scope of work, Lindsey said.

The proposed contract is for one year with four one-year renewal periods.

The county anticipates demolishing 25 to 50 homes as part of the contract, according to county documents.